Golden Angels and Frozen Monsters
by TheWolfWhoWaited
Summary: Lost, broken and in despair, Loki finds his guiding light in the void before being tortured by Thanos. After his invasion of Midgard failed, Loki was imprisoned in Asgard, his thoughts still returning what he has begun calling his Golden Enigma. When Loki's plan to rule Asgard goes awry, he goes to Midgard, determined to find this otherworldly pull towards her.


"I could have done it father! For you! For all of us!" Loki's voice broke and tears welled up in his eyes. Thor had tears in his eyes as well, even he knowing what Loki was about to do. Even Odin was on the verge of tears. "No Loki." Was all he said. Loki let go of Gungnir, falling into the black abyss of the void. He could hear Thor's scream before he was surrounded by black nothingness.

He was going mad. He was the god of madness and chaos. He would know if he was going mad. Loki had no idea how long he had been in the void, frankly he didn't care. His whole life was a lie.

Suddenly, after what seemed like an eternity, the blackness was gone. It was replaced by a warm golden light. It wove it's tendrils of warmth around him and pulled him closer to the epicenter. The light was blinding, but welcome. The light around him solidified, he felt a distinct safeness in what he recognized was a woman's warm- no, not warm, scalding hot embrace. Loki squinted and a woman came into focus.

She had lightly tanned skin, almost a golden hue, and long golden blond hair that curled tightly at the end before becoming light. She was beautiful, Loki realised, one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. The only thing odd about her was her eyes. They were an unnatural bright blue and had just the smallest hit of orange at the edge of her irises. Her dress was ivory coloured and was trimmed in the same gold and all the colors of fire. There was a green sash around one bare shoulder. _His_ green he suddenly realised.

One arm was around his waist, holding him close, the other hand was gently stroking his cheek. She was impossibly warm against his naturally cold flesh. Loki looked at this enigma in wonder. She flashed him a pure white smile. He couldn't help but smile back. It was strange, smiling. He had almost forgotten how. "Loki." She whispered. Her voice was soft, comforting. "What are you?" he choked out in response. She smiled again.

"Even I don't know. I'm sorry. But I know this. You are lost, and broken almost beyond repair."

Unwanted tears began to well up in his eyes. "But", she began again, "Not all is lost. You will have to face impossible odds, and horrifying reality. I promise, you will overcome it all. You must. Your brother will need you. Midgard will need you. I know you have no love for mortals, but their fate will hinge upon you and Thor. You will take the path you must, it will be hard, but very soon, you will not have to face it alone."

After she finished, he wrapped his arms around her slender waist, locking her in an almost crushing embrace, to keep her from leaving him alone again. Her skin was so warm, warmer than any Æsir or mortal. Her full lips pressed a tender kiss to his cheek before her warmth started to fade. "No…" he told her, desperate to not be alone on the dark, to be with this woman he felt the strangest connection with. A connection that he felt all the way to his core.

She pulled away from him, far too soon. This time, her smile was sad and he could see tears in the corner of her eyes. "I'm sorry. I must go. Your fate awaits you. Embrace it." She said before all the warmth and light she brought with her was gone. The tears came freely now, the tears of a broken man. There was something at the back of his mind though, something that was not there before. Hope. He could tell a truth from a lie, and she had not been lying. He would escape this hell. He knew he would. He had to. It was the only way to see his Golden Enigma again.

"Sir, you might want to see this. We might have just found Stark's replacement." Maria Hill informed Director Fury. She pulled the camera footage up on the holographic monitor. Nick watched closely, taking in every detail of the scene.

There was a woman, surrounded by the 'Dark Elves', as Thor had called them, in a deserted back alley. She had golden-blond hair, and was rather tall, and slender. The video quality wasn't the best, Nick assumed that it was a security camera outside a bar. She was completely surrounded, but they weren't firing at her. What must have been the leader of the squad, motioned to the others and they attacked. The young woman instantly had what looked to a whip made of pure fire, and wrapped it around one's neck, it falling to the ground in a pile of still-smoking cinders. In her right hand, she had a fiery longsword and masterfully slashed at the leader, removing its head in one clean swipe. The others charged at her all at once, hoping to overwhelm her, but to no avail. While her whip and sword were gone, she was cloaked in white-hot fire, and the elves were ashes before they could even turn tail. The pavement was scorched black. Nick had to admit, he was impressed.

"Is she in the database?" Nick questioned Agent Hill. "No sir. We can't even find anything on her. She's a ghost. There are reports of a tall blond that have been using… unconventional healing practices on injured civilians around this same area in London. If she lives around that area, we will find her."

"Send out Romanov. Have Barton on standby. I want her found and brought in as soon as possible."

"Yes Sir." With that, Mariah left the bridge, typing on her tablet and calling Romanov. _Someone with an ability like that might just be what the Avengers need,_ he thought.

Natasha was looking for a tall woman with golden blond hair in the middle of London. Great.

She started in the location of the footage. It wasn't hard to miss. The small back lot was blackened by the girl's powers. It was a wonder that he hadn't set the whole block on fire. "Nat. Hill just gave me a name and an address. I'm sending the address to your phone now. The girls name is Bethany Loyar. At least, that's what she goes by. Fury wants you to find her first. I guess he wants to talk to her." Clint informed her over her earpiece. "Copy that. Headed that way now."

Nat rushed over to the address, which was a few blocks down the street. She climbed the steps, all the way to the top apartment. It wasn't a penthouse, as this wasn't the type of neighbourhood to have penthouses.

She knocked on the door. No answer. "Clint. Tell Fury to get here as soon as possible. She's gone right now. He can make the entrance he always likes." She informed him. "Nat, what if it's the wrong girl?" Clint responded through the com. "I have a feeling it's not." was all she replied with. She heard Clint sigh on the other end. "Copy. I'll tell Fury."

Making sure no one was around, she easily picked the lock on the door. She strode in, closed the door and looked around. While the sitting room was decorated, it was bare. There were no family photos, no photos of friends, or even pets. Actually, there were no photos at all. There were paintings, some obviously quite old and some newer. It was an odd collection, Nat thought.

After waiting about fifteen minutes, she heard two pairs of footsteps outside the door, both male, one obviously Fury. The other, she knew was her Hawk. Fury and Clint strode in Bethany Loyar's studio apartment. Natasha closed the door behind them and relocked the door. Clint moved over by Nat and Fury looked around. All in all they only had to wait another fifteen minutes before they heard light footsteps coming up the stairs.

Bethany took out the keys to her flat. She stopped right before she turned the key. She didn't swear often, but she couldn't help it this time. "Shit." She breathed. She straightened her posture, it becoming the regal stance she had grown up using. Bethany sighed, and unlocked the door. She could feel three minds in her flat. Reaching out to them, she connected with all three. Nick Fury. Natasha Romanov. Clint Barton. The Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. The Black Widow. The Hawkeye. She turned the handle and opened the door.

"Get out of my flat." Bethany said icily.

"You were expecting us?" Fury asked. She could feel the slight surprise in his mind. Bethany had to be careful. In reality, she knew this was a long time coming. There was no hiding in this age of technology and cameras.

"We found some footage of you fighting a squad of Dark Elves. Well, I wouldn't call it fighting, it was more of a massacre. Miss Loyar. I'm Director Nick Fury. This is Agent Romanov and Agent Barton. We're here to talk to you about the Avengers Initiative." Fury informed her.

She gave them all an icy glare. All three agents noticed there was no malice in her glare, as if she was incapable of it.

Bethany thought for a moment. She wanted to help. She had been running for years. It was time to stand up and actually do something.

"I understand that even if I refuse you still have to take me in. I want to meet the rest of them first. And if I don't want to answer a question, or take some sort of test, you have to accept it. After that, I will give you your answer." She told them, in a commanding tone. _She is a wild one. Stark might actually have competition._ Bethany heard Fury think. She had to suppress a smile.

"Agreed." Fury said. Both Natasha and Clint breathed and internal sigh of relief.

"Gather your things Miss Loyar. It may be a while before you will be able to return here. S.H.I.E.L.D. will take care of everything. Should you join the Avengers, you will be relocated to the Avengers Tower, where the rest of the team is living currently." Fury explained to her. Bethany nodded and drug out her suitcase. She was used to speed packing, and had her essentials in less than five minutes.

They all filed out of her flat, Fury taking point and Clint taking the rear. There was a S.H.I.E.L.D. vehicle parked around the corner, and they got in, Fury in the passenger seat, Clint driving, and Natasha sitting next to her. They all rode in silence. Bethany was not the type of person to abuse her telepathic ability, she usually just kept to her own mind, but she had no inkling to trust these people. She was stretched a bit thin, being in three people's minds at once.

She could feel their unease, and Fury was going over what he saw in the video over and over again. There was something else though, something that was at the back of all their minds. She decided to go deeper. Clint had the most interaction with him, so she looked at his memories.

Saying Loki was handsome didn't even cover it. Clint was uneasy. Very uneasy. She could feel it. Thor had told them a few days back that Loki was alive and had killed Odin, and used an illusion to make himself look like the All-Father. He had come to warn S.H.I.E.L.D. that Loki might try to conquer Earth again. Despite Clint's hatred for Loki, Bethany couldn't help but feel…almost drawn to him. She kept feeling she had seen him before, and not on the news. Like she had actually talked to him. Everything was fuzzy, she realised. _It must have been a dream._ She thought. It was a necessity, blocking out dreams. Her mind wandered at night, finding its way into people's dreams… and nightmares. Bethany had learned early on to force herself to forget dreams, even if they are her own.

Bethany was drawn out of her trance when the car stopped on the pavement of Heathrow Airport. The group filed out, Bethany retrieved her case, and followed the agents to an odd-looking plane.

"It's a quinjet." Natasha explained to her. Fury and Clint sat down, and Natasha settled into the cockpit. Bethany tied down her case and sat across the aisle from Fury and Clint. Both eyed her with curiosity. Fury was no doubt trying to see if she had any other abilities. Clint, on the other hand, was trying to see what kind of person she was, and how much of a threat she posed.

When the plane took off, Bethany closed her eyes and let her head fall back. She opened her mind to the three in the jet, not really caring to concentrate on one particular person. She figured that Fury had the most dirt and secrets, so after a few minutes, she closed her mind to all but him. She knew that no one could actually feel her almost walk into their mind. Fury was blissfully unaware that Bethany could watch his memoires like a movie, and very easily know all of his deepest, darkest secrets. She takes note of a few things, things that might help get her out of a sticky situation with S.H.I.E.L.D.

Intrigued by Clint's reaction to the Trickster-God Loki, she dug into Fury's memories of him. She could feel how much Fury disliked Loki. She saw how Loki took the Tesseract, and about the ant and boot comments they would trade back and forth. She inwardly smiled at that one. She digs around for a bit longer, before feeling the quinjet begin to land. Bethany opens her eyes, snaps her head up, and closes off her mind, save for monitoring everyone that comes near her for malicious intent. Clint and Fury unbuckle and stand, Bethany doing the same as well. Natasha opens the rear door and strides out of the cockpit, falling in step with Clint. Fury is the first off, Bethany and her case behind him, and the two Avengers following behind her. It only takes seconds for her to realises that she is on an aircraft carrier, and an American one at that. _Wait. Not American. This is S.H.I.E.L.D. Not the government. _Her suspicions were confirmed when she saw the logo on everything. Literally everything. When they go inside, Clint leaves with Fury, while Natasha escorts her to her cell, erm, _room._

"Here you are. Take a few minutes to get situated", Natasha says then hands her a small radio. "Radio me when you are ready."

"That's just it, ready for what? You people are not sticking any needles in me. Not only no, but hell no." Bethany responded, not letting the slighter woman intimidate her at all. She didn't even have to touch Natasha's mind to have an inkling of what she could do if she wanted to.

"I understand that. Fury just wants to see what you can do. Surely you have heard all that has happened with Iron Man recently?" Natasha inquires. The only reply she gets from Bethany is a "Nope. Don't care about rubbish like that." With that, Natasha leaves the room, closing the door behind her.

Bethany takes in what will likely become her new home for a bit. The walls, floor and ceiling are all the same, boring metal. There is a twin-sized bed in the corner, and a small closet next to the door to an equally tiny bathroom. When in the bathroom, there is scarcely room to move. One thing she is thankful for, is that she has her own shower. It was very plain, but decent. It was clean, at least.

Bethany had left her case by the door, so after poking around a bit, she tossed it up on her bed. She scowled at the rather large window looking out into the hallway of the ship. Thankfully, there were blinds in which she immediately lowered. She turned and leaned against the wall and then sunk to the floor, bringing her knees to her chest. Looking up, she was not surprised to see the camera in the corner. Then she saw another in the opposite corner, same for the last two corners. She snorted in disgust. She almost wanted to hurl a fireball at them, almost.

Sighing, she got up and took the few steps needed to reach the little metal table in one corner of the room, and picked up the radio. Bethany opened the signal "I'm ready I guess."

It took Natasha less than five minutes before she came to get her. She led her down more hallways and stairs before Bethany arrived at the bridge. When she walked in she saw the Avengers, all present with the exception of Thor. The instantly recognizable Tony Stark had a glass of scotch in his hand, talking to a man about average height, with a shock of curly black hair. The man with neatly combed blond hair and was much taller and more muscular than anyone else in the room, could only be Captain America. Clint was also there, talking with the Captain.

The conversations stopped after a moment. Fury entered through another hall with another agent, a woman with dark hair tied back in a neat bun. Fury began to address the assembled Avengers. "This is Bethany Loyar. She is a potential candidate to replace Iron Man in the Avengers Initiative." Feeling the weight of all the eyes on her, she straightened her posture. "Hullo." Bethany said with a warming smile.

"Huh. So you're British eh, Kiddo? Cool. I'm Tony Stark. Call me Tony." Tony held out his hand. Bethany took it and they shook hands.

"Uh. Hi. I'm uh. Dr. Bruce Banner." Bruce and Bethany shook hands as well.

Clint nodded in greeting.

"Hello Miss Loyar. I'm Steve Rogers. It's nice to meet you. Fury's told us a bit about you." She shook hands with Steve as well.

"Nice to meet all of you." Bethany responded enthusiastically. As much as she distrusted S.H.I.E.L.D., she could tell these people were good people without even touching their minds.

"Now that the meet and greet is over, Miss Loyar if you would follow Stark please." Fury directed towards her. "Come on Kiddo. Let's go see what you're made of." Tony smiled and gave her a wink before gulping back the rest of his scotch. Bethany followed him down more corridors, with the rest of the Avengers, Fury and the other woman in tow.

They stopped and entered a very large and open room. The ceiling was higher, and there was training equipment scattered about. The others filed in and went into an observing room. She was left alone. Suddenly, Tony's voice came in over an intercom. "Ok Kiddo. Show us what you've got."

Bethany took a deep breath. Her motions were fluid, every strike and kick letting a burst of flame erupt. She had spent years in Asia learning different martial art styles to create her own style of fighting. After close to ten minutes of fighting invisible enemies, she stopped.

"Damn kid. You can move. Anything else?" Tony questioned through the intercom again. "We might want to go up on the deck for this one." She replied in turn. A moment later, they all filed out of the room, Tony grinning like an idiot, Steve giving her a soft smile, and the others looked indifferent. They all took the long trek back up to the deck of the ship in silent anticipation.

When they reached it, Bethany distanced herself from the group. She took another deep breath. This was one secret she guarded well. Her fire and healing was powerful, but besides her telepathy, this was the first thing that surfaced, this was the thing that made her truly unique. And made her strong. Without effort, she unfolded her wings. They disappeared when not in use, but as soon as she flexed the invisible muscles, they were there, unfolding. Tony and Steve's mouth's hit the floor and Tony said a very audible "Holy shit." as magnificent golden wings unfolded from Bethany. They were not typical wings though, there were in fact four wings, resembling a dragonfly's. The feathers were a pure golden color, a color even more brilliant than her hair. They looked metallic, but were clearly not.

"Uh. I can fly a bit right?" She asked Fury. Fury nodded, unable to find words at the moment.

With one powerful beat of her wings, she was airborne. They all watched in stunned silence as she demonstrated her speed, and agility while in the air, even going so far as to use her fire as well to demonstrate her aerial combat prowess she had worked so hard on. Finally, Bethany landed softly where she took off, and folded her gilded wings.

"Well son of a bitch Kid. That was something." Tony remarked, still surprised. The others agreed as well. Bethany smiled shyly. "I'm also a really good healer, if you want to put that on file too." She proclaimed. She decided to keep the telepathy to herself, the longer S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't know, the better. The next hour was spent sitting in the infirmary, a doctor looking her over, and testing her strength and speed. The doctor was surprised to find that she possessed a strength and speed that rivaled Captain America's. The doctor was about to dismiss her to go eat and retire for the evening, Fury strode in, his ever-permanent scowl on his face.

"Dismissed Doctor." He muttered. When the doctor left, he fixed his one eye on Bethany. "I had my doubts that your name was in fact, Bethany. Cut the crap now and tell the truth. Who are you? We are an intelligence agency who can't seem to find anything about you." Fury inquired. She sighed. "Damnation. Very well. I have lived in the shadows long enough. It is time cease this cowardly hiding." Fury noticed not only in the change in her speech pattern, her accent changed as well, it was no longer the slightly slurred heavy London accent she had before.

"My true name is Lady Aldabella Rayne. I was born on December 10, 1326, making me 687 years old currently. No you may not take a sample of my blood and no, I have not visibly aged since I was of nineteen years of age. If you don't mind, I am rather peckish and weary of the day's events. I have no further inclination to answer anymore pointless questions. If you would be so kind as to point me in the right direction of the dining hall, I would be most grateful, Director."

"If you think I'm just going to let you walk out of here, you are sorely mistaken." Fury spat. Aldabella noticed that Fury did not hide his anger very well. "Fury, it's almost 8 and I haven't had anything to eat since breakfast. I'm sorry but I'm bloody hungry. And tired. Can't I just explain everything tomorrow? It's not like I have a job to go to. Or anything else to do." She had shifted back to her modern London accent and speech pattern. Fury huffed and looked down at Aldabella. She opened her mind to him, to see what he thought of her admittedly mad story.

He had conflicting emotions and thoughts. Part of him almost wanted to believe her, but all logic dictates that Aldabella is lying through her teeth. The other part was thoroughly pissed they really has nothing to keep her here. There was nothing they could use to ensure her silence, and cooperation.

"If you don't believe me, Director, please, look up my surname. It is bound to be in some lost and forgotten record vault."

"You could have easily stolen the name, date of birth, and any other information you could have found on her." Fury countered. Aldabella sighed.

"I can't explain how it all happened. All I know is that after I finally stopped and really looked for a moment, I looked exactly like I did when I was nineteen. And I was close to thirty at the time. And before you say anything, I was really busy," she paused for a moment, "If it takes a blood sample to understand, then…fine take it." She rolled up the sleeve of her jumper.

Fury's eye narrowed at her before he called a doctor back in. "When you're done here, an agent will escort you to the mess hall". He turned on his heel and strode out of the room like he couldn't get out of there fast enough.

After the doctor took a sample of her blood, a nameless agent escorted Aldabella to the almost empty mess hall. The only ones still there was her new soon-to-be comrades.

They were sitting in the far corner from the door, and their laughter could be heard clearly from the other side of the large room. The cook gave her a tray with a hamburger and some chips, and she took a seat at the door while the agent left.

"Hey Kiddo! Come and sit by us! We won't bite!" Tony called over, who was joined in by a chorus of agreements from the others. She grabbed a chip before she picked up her tray and navigated her way to where the Avengers were sitting.

Natasha and Clint were sitting together, with Bruce sitting next to Clint. Tony was across the table from Bruce, and Steve was next to Tony. Aldabella set her tray next to Steve's empty tray, it was obvious that they had been done eating for a while. Now they were just talking and it seemed that they were waiting on her. She sat down.

"Hullo. Sorry that took a bit." She muttered. "It's no problem Miss Loyar." Steve gave her a friendly smile. "We all know how Fury is." Bruce muttered. Aldabella shifted uncomfortable in her seat and took a bite of her hamburger, chewed thoughtfully, and swallowed. "Yeah, about that… my name's not Bethany. It's Aldabella Rayne. Fury called me out on it. It's been really hard to stay invisible these last ten or so years."

The others took it better than she thought they would. It was Clint that addressed her last comment. "Ten or so years? Just how old are you?" Aldabella smiled shyly. "You won't believe me. But…. 687." She proclaimed. Bruce looked fascinated, Clint was wide-eyed, Tony's mouth had hit the floor, and Steve just looked completely shocked. "You gotta be shitting me," Tony halfway yelled. Steve shot Tony a patronizing glare. "Christ. You look damn good for almost 700. So that explains the old English name. Nice." He continued. Aldabella blushed a little. "Thanks Tony. Call me Ella if you would. I know my name's a bit much for this day and age." She countered. There was a moment of silence and Ella continued eating. "Steve is going with you back to London tomorrow. Fury gave the two of you leave to go pack up your stuff so you can move into Stark Tower." Natasha broke the silence.

Ella looked her for a beat. "I never told Fury I was joining." Once again, all eyes were on her. "But eh. What the hell. There's no point in going back into hiding now. What time do we leave?" She questioned. "7 o'clock tomorrow morning. Fury is sending a truck and boxes. I'm to help with heavy stuff." Steve informed her. "I'm a speed packer so I shouldn't take more than a few hours tomorrow." Ella informed them. She began eating again. The others went back to their conversation from before. Ella listened and laughed with them. It was weird, she thought, having friends again. She finished and brought her tray away and went back to the table. Bruce had left only a few minutes before and Clint and Natasha walked waved goodbye with Tony. Steve and Ella were the only ones left. "Do you know how to get back to your room from here?" He asked. "Nope. I'm used to winding corridors, but this is maddening." She halfway complained. "Our rooms are in the same hallway, if you want me to escort you there. I'll admit it can get confusing sometimes when you are new here." He smiled at her. Ella smiled back. "Yeah. Definitely. Thanks Steve."

They navigated their way through the narrow hallways and long corridors. The silence was really awkward and Steve tried to break it several times, but to no avail. He noticed how heat seemed to radiate off her. Almost like she was a space heater.

They arrived shortly at her room, and Steve bid her goodnight before going to his own rooms. No doubt Tony was tinkering in the lab, getting drunk like usual.

Ella closed and locked the door and drug out her pajamas, and changed in the tiny bathroom. When she got out, she turned out the lights, and flopped on the rock-hard bed. After laying in bed for few hours, going over everything that had happened, Ella finally drifted into an uncomfortable sleep.


End file.
